Post-blizzard fires drive more than 20 people out

Credit: contributor

Boston firefighters work at the three-alarm fire at Mather Street this morning. (Courtesy Boston Fire Dept.)

Credit: Courtesy

Boston firefighters work a hose on a three-alarm fire at Mather Street. (Courtesy Boston Fire Dept.)

Credit: contributor

Boston firefighters work a hose on a three-alarm fire at Mather Street. (Courtesy Boston Fire Dept.)

prevnext

Combustible materials stacked on top of a heater are being blamed for a two-alarm fire on Cobden Street in Roxbury early this morning that drove 10 people out into the post-blizzard deep freeze and three firefighters to area hospitals — one with a cracked rib and another with a sliced finger, Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said.

That blaze, at 5 a.m., broke out hours after a three-alarm fire on Mather Street in Dorchester shortly before 11:45 p.m. last night consumed an apartment house occupied by more than a dozen people. The department has estimated damages at $400,000.

One man who suffered burns had to be rescued by a firefighter from Ladder 6 who “put a bear hug around him,” MacDonald said. “The guy was able to use his legs to maneuver down the ladder.” A second resident was treated for smoke inhalation.

MacDonald said four firefighters working Mather Street were treated for minor burns and other injuries.

Though it did not impact response time because so many fire engines were responding, MacDonald said one fire engine got stuck in snow on a corner of Nixon Street. Its crew jumped into action and manually towed a water hose up the street.

“It’s a combination of the way people park and the way snow has been banked on the corners,” he said. “Then again, we don’t have storms like this often.”

The department put seven extra engines and 80 additional firefighters on duty during the epic storm for just such emergencies, he said.

“The firefighters did an absolutely tremendous job under tough street conditions to keep it (the fire) confined to the one building,” MacDonald said of the Mather Street tragedy. “No matter what the elements, they really rose to the occasion.”